


Life Isn't a Fairytale

by blackinkedbs



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:38:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24870163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackinkedbs/pseuds/blackinkedbs
Summary: Gina and Ricky have been friends since high school. Though now, since being in college, things have changed between them. Has the ending of their story changed?
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter
Kudos: 13





	Life Isn't a Fairytale

**Author's Note:**

> Gina and Ricky are presently sophomores in college. They became friends in high school.

Gina Porter  _ was  _ Ricky Bowen’s best friend and had been for years. Whenever he had good news, bad news, or practically anything else on his mind, Gina  _ was  _ the first person he would go to—emphasis on the was. There  _ was _ a time where they both loved each other wholeheartedly, but that time was no longer.

Gina and Ricky had been through a lot together: she convinced him to stay in their high school’s production of  _ High School Musical,  _ she helped him through his parent’s divorce, she was there to support him while he auditioned for a spot at his dream school, she was there for him when he was accepted, she was there to watch his first live performance, and she was there when he broke up with his girlfriend, Nini. Ricky, not only for his distaste of math, wouldn’t be able to count how many things Gina had done for him. He appreciated her so much and he wished he realized how much sooner.

Ricky always tried to be there for Gina in the way she was for him, but no matter what he did, he never could. He was never the best with emotions and Gina knew that but never faulted him for it. That’s one of the many things Ricky loved about Gina—she never made him apologize for being his dysfunctional self. When Gina got accepted into the dance program at her dream school, Ricky tried to throw her a party that ended in cake spilled across her house floor. When he thought she would burst into tears or screams, she instead burst into laughter and wrapped her arms around him to give him a hug. A hug that made him feel safe. Like home. It wasn’t unusual for Gina to give him a hug, especially one that made him feel so secure. He would give anything to have that now.

Though Gina and Ricky didn’t go to the same college, they always made an effort to see each other whenever they could. To their luck, their colleges weren’t that far apart, they both lived near coffee shops, and they both loved coffee. Whenever they would get coffee, they would talk about whatever was on their minds. Ricky would always try to arrive at the shop before her, impress her with his memory skills, and have her drink ready by the time she got there. He wanted to make her feel as loved as she did for him. Through his odd, small gestures and uncontrollable smiles, he slowly began to realize Gina was his idea of a fairytale. She was a princess—all features enchanting and bright. She was his idea of an imperfectly perfect person and he was going to tell her he wanted to be hers. But he wanted to wait until the right moment to do it.

The right moment started to continuously slip from Ricky’s grasp. It was towards the end of their freshman year of college when Gina started to hang out with Ricky less and less. She told him that because she was becoming more involved with her dance team and other school activities, they wouldn’t be able to do as much as they used to. Though Ricky missed her deeply, he was understanding of her situation. Just like she understood him a countless amount of times. Ricky felt his connection with Gina starting to fade and he didn’t want it to. He couldn’t lose someone as good as her. So one day he decided to march into her dorm room, with every intention to profess his feelings. Ricky didn’t understand his feelings often, but this time, they were clearer than they had ever been.

While waiting for Gina to answer the door, Ricky paced in front of it. While also not being good at understanding his own feelings, when he did, he didn’t like having to explain them. But for Gina, he would do anything. 

“Ricky, this is a surprise,” Gina said when she first opened the door. She didn’t look happy he was standing at her doorstep late at night, but she didn’t look all that mad either. Just confused.

“Gina,” the words couldn’t seem to find Ricky, but before he could speak another word, Gina invited him in. She was always accepting of his dysfunctional self.

When he entered, they sat there in uncomfortable silence, unlike they usually would. He didn’t know why this exactly was the cause, but he figured it had to do with what he wanted to tell her. He figured he was just scared.

“Gina,” he started to say again,

“Ricky, I’m pretty sure you know my name. That’s the only thing you’ve said in the past five minutes,” she laughed,

“I love you,” he blurted. Gina’s entire body froze, unsure of what to say. She knew exactly what he meant. She knew it wasn’t the type of “I love you” he said to her when she watched his favorite movies with him, got him ice cream, was there for him, and helped him. No, this one was different.

“Ricky, I-”

“Wait. Please,” he said begging her to listen,

“Gina, I love you. You are quite literally the best person I know, but not only that, you are the best person _ for me _ . You are there for me in every way possible, you make me feel so safe, and so at home. You are my idea of a fairytale. My happy ending,” he said as he tried to grab onto her hand. She quickly pulled away.

“I can’t do this,” she said not looking at him,

“What do you mean, Gi?”

“I mean this,” she said looking at Ricky’s knee that touched hers,

“Look, Ricky, I’m really glad you were able to tell me this-”

“Gi, it’s okay if you don’t feel the same. I’ll be okay. I-”

“Ricky, it’s not just that. It’s us in general. These past few weeks I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’ve met new people. People that are always there to support me-”

“I always support you, in whatever way I can,” he was starting to get angry. He knew he wasn’t the best at supporting her, but he thought they were different,

“You do, Ricky. But you also never bothered to ask how I was doing when my father came back all of a sudden because you were too focused on your second breakup with Nini, you never supported me at any of my dance performances when I went to every single one of your performances, whenever I even start to talk to my problems we always somehow drift to yours, and when  _ I  _ tried to tell you that I was in love with you like you are now, you brushed it off. And now here you are, speaking to me as if you can’t recall any of that stuff happening because, at the end of the day, Ricky Bowen only cares about himself,” once Gina said that, Ricky could tell something that she had held on tightly for so long, had finally been released in a sigh of relief.

“I’m sorry, Gi. I didn’t even realize I did all of that” tears started to fall from Ricky’s eyes,

“I know you’re sorry Ricky. I’m sorry too. I wish it hadn’t taken us both this long,” she laughed half-heartedly,

“You know these past few weeks started off as a bunch of dance rehearsals that later turned into time I began enjoying without you. I never thought that was possible,”

“If that’s what you want Gina,” he started to walk out the door,

“No, that’s not what I meant, Ricky. I just think we need to slow everything down,” and so they did. 

Their friendship after that crumbled into ashes at the speed their friendship was supposed to be maintained: painfully slow. Ricky watched as they began to distance themselves in what felt like a pit of quicksand until sophomore year finally arrived. Gina and Ricky had finally ceased talking, so much so, he decided to delete her number off of his phone. He assumed Gina had done that long before he did. She knew she held onto a lot of pain that he caused so she had been ready to let go of him for a long time. But it was hard for him to let her go. She  _ was _ his best friend and had been through so much with him. She was always there to let him be his dysfunctional self or give him hugs whenever he needed a sense of home. She was his idea of a fairytale. Only an idea—a story that will never come to fruition. 

Sometimes, he would stop by the coffee shop they used to go together and see her there smiling either to herself, a crowd of friends, or a date. Though his original happy ending included him with her, seeing her smiling was a happy ending of its own. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So the (funny? but not at all) thing is is that my old twitter got deleted along with my old one shots that I didn't post on here. I wrote this one back in April. I hope you enjoy it even if you already read it back then. Thank you all for your continuous support.


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